After 11 years, the court announced the verdict in the case of the killing of the intellectual Narendra Dabholkar Achi-News

New Delhi: After 11 years, the Pune special court in Maharashtra has announced the verdict in the case of the killing of rationalist Dr. Narendra Dabholkar Case, who fought against superstition.

The court has released Dr. Virendra Tawde, the mastermind behind the assassination plot of intellectual Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, and two other accused lawyers, Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave, due to lack of evidence. Besides, Sanatan Sansthan members Sharad Kalaskar and Sachin Endure, who shot Dabholkar, have been sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh each.

On August 20, 2013, an intellectual, Narendra Dabholkar, was shot dead on August 20, 2013, while he was out for a morning walk on the Omkareshwar Bridge in Pune. Five people have been charged in this case. Special court for cases related to Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Additional Sessions Judge AA Jadhav has taken this decision.

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The CBI had claimed that the main conspirator in this case was Dr. Virendra Tawde, who was associated with the Sanatan Sansthan. Dabholkar, the founder of the Maharashtra Andhashradha Nirmoolana Samiti, was on a morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013, when he was shot by two bike-borne assailants. Dabholkar headed that committee for many years, he has published various books on eradicating superstition and also organized many workshops.

After this killing, there was a lot of uproar throughout the country. Later, on petitions filed by Dabholkar’s daughter and son, the Bombay High Court transferred the case from the Pune Police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In the case, the Pune Sessions Court framed charges against all the five accused on September 15, 2021. The court said that a conspiracy was hatched to kill Dabholkar in order to instill a high level of fear in the minds of the people and that no one would be able to do the work of the ‘Andhasraddha Nirmoolana Samiti’ after his murder.

During the trial, the prosecution examined 20 witnesses while the defense examined two witnesses. In his closing argument, the prosecution said that the accused was against Dabholkar’s campaign against superstition. Initially, the case was being investigated by the Pune police, but after an order from the Bombay High Court, in 2014, the CBI took over the case and in June 2016, Dr. Virender Singh Tawde was arrested.

According to the prosecution, Virendra Tawde was one of the main conspirators in the murder. The Sanatan Sanstha opposes the work done by the organization Dabholkar Maharashtra Andhasraddha Nirmoolana Samiti. He claimed that Tawde and some other accused were connected with this Sanatan organization.

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In its charge sheet, the CBI had initially named escaped Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar as the shooters but later arrested Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar who shot Dabholkar in a supplementary charge sheet. Subsequently, the central agency arrested lawyers Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave as co-conspirators.

While Virendra Tawde, Andure and Kalaskar are in jail, Punalekar and Bhave are out on bail.

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